The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior hockey in Canada, alongside the Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. Teams play for the Ed Chynoweth Cup, with the winner moving on to play for the Memorial Cup, Canada's national junior championship. WHL teams have won the Memorial Cup 19 times. The WHL is composed of 22 teams divided into two conferences of two divisions. The Eastern Conference comprises 11 teams from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, while the Western Conference comprises 11 teams from British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon.
In Canada, soccer is the most popular sport in terms of participation rate; according to FIFA's Big Count, almost 2.7 million people played in Canada in 2006. Professional soccer in Canada is played in the Canadian Premier League and Major League Soccer. Canada also has many semi-professional and amateur soccer leagues. Canada's men's and women's national soccer teams are ranked 31st and 6th respectively in the FIFA World Rankings as of November 28, 2024.
The Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) is a national Canadian football league consisting of 19 teams playing in five provinces across Canada. The teams compete annually for the Canadian Bowl. Many CJFL players move on to professional football careers in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and elsewhere.
Sports in Canada consist of a wide variety of games. The roots of organized sports in Canada date back to the 1770s. Canada's official national sports are ice hockey and lacrosse. Other major professional games include curling, basketball, baseball, soccer, and football. Great achievements in Canadian sports are recognized by numerous "Halls of Fame" and museums, such as Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.
Pacific Western Transportation provides a variety of bus services in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Yukon. Depending on the location, it offers scheduled and chartered school busing, municipal transit and handi-bus services, airport passenger services and local and long-distance coach charters.
The Alberta Football League (AFL) is an amateur Canadian football league. The league's schedule runs from the start of June through to the end of September.
AFL Canada is the governing body for men's and women's Australian rules football in Canada.
The Calgary Kangaroos is an Australian rules football club based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. They welcome all new players, regardless of prior experience, practice at A E Cross High School in Glamorgan, play games at the Inland Athletic Park and are members of AFL Canada. The Roos also run introductory training sessions at various elementary and high schools across the city, in an effort to grow the sport locally. The current number one ticket holder of the club is former Calgary City Mayor, the Honourable Naheed Nenshi
Australian rules football in Canada is played in seven provinces – Ontario, Alberta, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, British Columbia and Saskatchewan. The Ontario league, centred on Toronto is a nine-team league, including sides from cities as far afield as Guelph, Hamilton and Ottawa. In western Canada, there are clubs in Edmonton, Calgary and a six-team league in the Vancouver area. There is also a number of junior and women's clubs across Canada.
The USAFL National Championships is a tournament for Australian rules football in the United States.
The Canadian soccer league system, also called the Canadian soccer pyramid, is a term used in soccer to describe the structure of the league system in Canada. The governing body of soccer in the country is the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA), which oversees the system and domestic cups but does not operate any of its component leagues. In addition, some Canadian teams compete in leagues that are based in the United States.
The Voyageurs is an unofficial Canadian soccer supporters group founded in 1996, notable for their support of Canada's national teams, awarding of the annual Voyageurs Cup for men's club soccer, and influence in the Canadian soccer media.
The Calgary Kookaburras is a ladies Australian rules football club based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. They play at the Queen Elizabeth School, Hillhurst and are members of AFL Canada. They were the first women's football club formed in Canada.
The United States women's Australian Rules football team, also nicknamed USA Freedom represents the United States in the sport of women's Australian rules football.
The Alberta Footy Women's League (AFWL) is the largest women's Australian football league playing regular matches in North America. It is currently composed of teams from Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta, who play for the AFWL Premiership Cup.
There are professional teams based in Canada in several professional sports leagues. The National Hockey League currently has seven Canadian franchises and is the most popular professional sports league in Canada. The Canadian Football League is the only all-Canadian major professional sports league. Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, the National Basketball Association, and the Professional Women's Hockey League also have Canadian teams.
The 2011 Canadian Championship was a soccer tournament hosted and organized by the Canadian Soccer Association that took place in the cities of Edmonton, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver in 2011. As in previous tournaments, participating teams included the Montreal Impact, Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC. FC Edmonton participated in this year's competition for the first time. Toronto FC won the tournament, claiming the Voyageurs Cup and Canada's entry into the preliminary round of the 2011–12 CONCACAF Champions League. The tournament has been held annually since 2008.
The 2009 Esso Cup was Canada's inaugural national women's midget hockey championship, played April 19–25, 2009 at the Max Bell Centre in Calgary, Alberta. The Westman Wildcats from Manitoba defeated the Scarborough Sharks from Ontario to win the first gold medal. The host Calgary Flyers defeated their provincial rival, the Edmonton Thunder, to take the bronze. Calgary's Brittany Styner was named the tournament's most valuable player.
Rugby League British Columbia, formerly known as British Columbia Rugby League, is a non-profit organization and a member of Canada Rugby League. RLBC operates a domestic rugby league football competition in British Columbia, Canada that currently features six teams with the addition of the Whistler Wolves for the 2020 season. The RLBC, with its clubs, additionally host events and competitions involving junior club teams and women's team to expand the sport of Rugby League in the province.
The Canada Soccer National Development Centre and Canada Soccer EXCEL programs are full-time women's soccer development programs run by the Canadian Soccer Association in partnership with the various provincial associations to develop Canadian women's soccer players as part of the Canadian women's soccer pathway. There are three National Development Centres in Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia and Regional EXCEL programs in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
3rd (as of October 2022 [1] )
